On Sunday, March 23, Jane Ross, an eighth grade student at Hampton Middle School in Hampton Twp, earned the title of Champion at the 75th annual Western Pennsylvania Spelling Bee. This is not the first time that Jane won the Western Pa. Spelling Bee. She was crowned Champion in 2022 as a fifth grader, placed third in 2023 and was runner up in 2024. In May, Jane will represent the Western Pennsylvania region at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC.
Held at the Lawrence Hall Ballroom on the campus of Point Park University, the regional spelling bee had 15 competitors who were all finalists in the regional qualifier bee. Western Pennsylvania students in grades first through eighth compete in spelling bees at their schools and one champion per school advances to the regional qualifier bee. This year, 81 local students participated in the regional qualifier, and on Sunday morning, the 15 finalists in the regional bee spelled for more than two hours. The winning word was “cacaxte.”
Placing in the top five on Sunday were:
1st place - Jane Ross, an eighth grader from Hampton Middle School (middle)
2nd place - Jack Turan, a sixth grader from Quaker Valley Middle School (2nd on the left)
3rd place - Lois Klages, an eighth grader from Bedford Middle School (2nd on the right)
4th place - Diya Thirumurugan, a seventh grader from South Fayette Township Middle School (far left)
5th place - Mateo Lin, a seventh grader from Fort Couch Middle School (far right)
Along with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which produces the event, Point Park University, the Museum of Illusions and the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium serve as sponsors of the event.